Bibliotherapy can be used to address specific concerns or it can be used in a preventative way. However, bibliotherapy requires thoughtful planning and facilitation. The bibliotherapy process consists of identifying the individual’s needs and selecting a book, which the facilitator has reviewed. This book must describe the individual’s current problem or situation. The next step is the reading of the book.

When reading the book to the individual, the facilitator should pause in the reading process in order to discuss the content. The facilitator can also ask the individual to stop him/her when something in the book is comparable to something the individual has gone through. If the individual is reading the book on his/her own, after s/he is finished, the facilitator should have a discussion about the book’s content and comparable situations. Lastly, the facilitator should follow up with the individual regarding the book and lead a discussion through drawings, clay, role-plays, etc. (Abdullah, 2002; Davies, 2003).

Bibliotherapy and bibliocounseling is used by mental health professionals who are trained in the use of therapeutic interventions. However, classroom teachers often use “developmental bibliotherapy,” which, according to Abdullah (2002) “involves helping students in their normal health and development.” Bibliotherapy can be particularly useful when working with children to assist them in labeling, expressing, and validating their feelings and thoughts. In bibliotherapy, the end result consists of the individual having acceptance or a better understanding of their situation or problem, and if needed, inspiration to make changes (Abdullah, 2002; Davies, 2003).

School counseling staff and school librarians can provide a wealth of information on stories and books to be used in bibliotherapy. In order to facilitate the bibliotherapy process, I have developed and offer the following list of topics and books.

Acceptance:

• Arnie and the New Kid, Nancy Carlson
• Arthur's Tooth, Marc Brown
• The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Big Orange Splot, D. Manus Pinkwater
• The Brand New Kid, Katherine Couric and Marjorie Priceman

Adoption:

• Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

Anger:

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst
• Arnold Gets Angry, Lawrence E. Shapiro and Steve Harpster
• Chocolate Covered Cookie Tantrum, Deborah Blumenthal and Harvey Stevenson
• Don’t Rant and Rave on Wednesdays, Adolph Moser and David Melton
• Franklin’s Bad Day, Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
• From Mad to Worse, Jim Boulden, Joann Farness, and Brenda Brown
• Hands Are Not For Hitting, Martine Agassi Ph.D. and Marieka Heinlen
• Mean Soup, Betsy Everitt
• Sometimes I’m Bombaloo, Rachel Vail and Yumi Heo
• Terry’s Temper, Timothy G. Ludwig
• Teeth Are Not for Biting, Elizabeth Verdick and Marieka Heinlen
• The Berenstain Bears Get In A Fight, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• When I Feel Angry, Cornelia Maude Spelman and Nancy Cote
• When Sophie Gets Angry, Molly Bang

Behavior:

• It's Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
• No, David!, David Shannon
• The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmes, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

Bullying:

• Ant Bully, John Nickle
• Blue Cheese Breath and Stinky Feet, Catherine Depino, Bonnie Matthews, and Charles Beyl
• Chester’s Way, Kevin Henkes
• Crickwing, Janell Cannon
• King of the Playground, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Nola Langner Malone
• My Bully Secret, Trudy Ludwig and Abigail Marble
• Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, Patty Lovell and David Catrow
• The Berenstain Bears and the Bully, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Recess Queen, Alexis O'neill and Laura Huliska-Beith

Caring, Compassion and Kindness:

• Under the Lemon Moon, Edith Hope Fine and Rene King Moreno
• Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, Leo Lionni
• Crazy Hair Day, Barney Saltzberg
• Horton Hears a Who!, Dr. Seuss
• The Goodness Gorilla, Lisa McCourt and Pat Grant Porter
• The Paper Crane, Molly Bang
• Tico and the Golden Wings, Leo Lionni

• A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams
• Anansi the Spider: A Tale from Ashanti, Gerald McDermott
• Big Pumpkin, Erica Silverman and S.D. Schindler
• Elephant on My Roof, Erin Harris
• Enormous Potato, Aubrey Davis and Dusan Petricic
• Swimmy, Leo Lionni
• The Enormous Turnip, Katie Daynes, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, and Georgien Overwater
• The Little Red Hen, Carol Ottolenghi

Diversity and Tolerance:

• A Rainbow of Friends, P. K. Hallinan
• Colors of Us, Karen Katz
• Different Just Like Me, Loir Mitchell
• Franklin’s New Friend, Paulette Bourgeois & Brenda Clark
• People, Peter Spier

• We’re Different, We’re the Same, Bobbi Kates and Joe Mathieu

Divorce:

• Dinosaurs Divorce, Marc Brown and Laurie Krasny Brown
• Ginny Morris and Mom’s House, Dad’s House, Mary Collins Gallagher and Whitney Martin
• Two Homes, Claire Masurel and Kady Macdonald Denton
• Was It the Chocolate Pudding?: A Story For Little Kids About Divorce, Sandra Levins and Bryan Langdo

Fairness:

• Cactus Soup, Eric A. Kimmel and Phil Huling
• Me First, Helen Lester and Lynn M. Munsinger

Feelings:

• Glad Monster, Sad Monster, Anne Miranda and Ed Emberley
• How Are You Peeling?, Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
• It's a Shame About the Rain: The Bright Side of Disappointment, Barbara Shook Hazen and Bernadette Simmons
• My Many Colored Days, Dr. Seuss
• Sometimes I Feel Like A Mouse, Jeanne Modessitt
• The Blue Ribbon Day, Katie Couric and Marjorie Priceman
• The Way I Feel, Janan Cain
• Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

Forgiveness:

• Rising Above the Storm Clouds: What It's Like to Forgive, Robert D. Enright and Kathryn Kunz

Friendship:

• Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, Leo Lionni
• Arthur's Birthday, Marc Brown
• Enemy Pie, Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King
• Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel
• How to Be a Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them, Laurie Krasny Brown, Marc Brown
• How To Lose All Your Friends, Nancy Carlson
• Max's Bunny Business, Rosemary Wells
• Mr. Peabody’s Apples, Madonna
• Sharing Friends, Maribeth Bush
• The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

Generosity:

• The Doorbell Rang, Pat Hutchins
• The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
• The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, Don Wood
• The Wednesday Surprise, Eve Bunting and Donald Carrick

Grief, Loss and Illness:

• Always and Forever, Alan Durant and Debi Gliori
• I Miss You: A First Look At Death, Pat Thomas and Leslie Harker
• The Berenstain Bears Lose a Friend, Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain
• The Jester Has Lost His Jingle, David Saltzman
• The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, Judith Viorst and Erik Blegvad
• When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death, Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown
• When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief, Marge Heegaard

Honesty and Trustworthiness:

• A Big, Fat, Enormous Lie, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and David McPhail
• Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Gordon Korman and JoAnn Adinolfi
• Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi, Gioia Flammenghi, and E. Harden
• The Berenstain Bears and the Truth, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf, B. G. Hennessy and Boris Kulikov
• The Empty Pot, Demi
• Tyrone, the Double Dirty, Rotten Cheater, Hans Wilhelm

Listening:

• Bunny Business, Nancy Poydar
• Dealing With Someone Who Won't Listen, Lisa K. Adams

Peer Pressure:

• Hunter’s Best Friend at School Elliott, Laura Malone Elliott and Lynn Munsinger
• The Berenstain Bears and the In Crowd, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

Perseverance:

• Dumpy La Rue, Elizabeth Winthrop and Betsy Lewin
• Katy and the Big Snow, Virginia Lee Burton
• Leo the Lightning Bug, Eric Drachman
• Stellaluna, Janell Cannon
• The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson
• The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper, George Hauman, and Doris Hauman
• Tibby Tried It, Sharon Useman, Ernie Useman, and Cary Pillo

Preparing for Kindergarten:

• Countdown to Kindergarten, Alison McGhee
• First Day Jitters, Julie Danneberg
• Franklin Goes to School, Paulette Bourgeois
• Froggy Goes to School, Jonathan London
• Kindergarten Rocks, Katie Davis
• Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come!, Nancy Carlson
• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, Joseph Slate
• The Berenstain Bears Go To School, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Night Before Kindergarten, Natasha Wing

Respect and Manners:

• Dora’s Book of Manners, Christine Ricci and Susan Hall
• Piggy Monday, Suzanne Bloom
• Rude Mule, Pamela Edwards and Barbara Nascimbeni
• That’s Good! That’s Bad!, Margery Cuyler and David Catrow
• The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore), Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Grumpling, Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James
• The Lorax, Dr. Seuss and Theodor Seuss Geisel
• This Little Piggy's Book of Manners, Kathryn Madeline Allen and Nancy Wolff
• Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams and William Nicholson
• Words Are Not For Hurting, Elizabeth Verdick and Marieka Heinlen

Responsibility:

• Arthur’s Computer Disaster, Marc Brown
• Arthur's Pet Business, Marc Brown
• Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss
• Pigsty, Mark Teague
• The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble at School, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• The Signmaker’s Assistant, Tedd Arnold
• The Wump World, Bill Peet

Safety:

• A Terrible Thing Happened - A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma, Margaret M. Holmes, Sasha J. Mudlaff, Cary Pillo
• The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• Uncle Willy's Tickles: A Child's Right to Say No, Marcie Aboff and Kathleen Gartner

Self-Esteem:

• Don't Feed the Monster on Tuesdays!: The Children's Self-Esteem Book, Adolph Moser
• Hooray for You – A Celebration of You-ness!, Marianne Richmond
• I Like Me!, Nancy Carlson
• I Like Myself!, Karen Beaumont and David Catrow
• I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
• Incredible Me!, Kathi Appelt and G. Brian Karas
• It’s Okay To Be Different, Todd Parr

Stress and Worry:

• Don't Pop Your Cork on Mondays!: The Children's Anti-Stress Book, Adolph Moser and Dav Pilkey
• The Worrywarts, Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole
• Wemberly Worried, Kevin Henkes

Tattling:

• A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue, Julia Cook and Anita DuFalla
• Armadillo Tattletale, Helen Ketteman and Keith Graves
• Don’t Squeal Unless It’s A Big Deal, Jeanie Franz Ransom and Jackie Urbanovic
• Tattlin’ Madeline, Carol Cummings

References:

Abdullah, Mardziah Hayati (2002). Bibliotherapy. December 2002, ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Digest #177. Retrieved 9/1/08: www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/digests/d177.html

Davies, Leah (2003). Using Bibliotherapy with Children. Retrieved 3/30/09:
www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip34.html

Michelfelder, Mary C. (No Date). Bibliotherapy. Lake Placid Elementary School. Lake Placid, NY.

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